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Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Levels of Life. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013. Pp. 124 + [6]. 21 x 14.6 cm.
Uncorrected Proof of the American edition bound in pale yellow paper cover with black lettering. Provisional publication date set for “26 September 2013” with a list price of $22.95.
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Something to Declare. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2002. Pp. 291 [292] + [6]. 21.2 x 14.3 cm.
Uncorrected Proof in blue paper wraps. Preliminary publication information printed in black to the front cover. Scheduled publication set for 7 October 2002 at a price of “$25”.
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. A History of the World in 10½ Chapters. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1989. Pp. 309 + [9]. 21.1 x 13.7 cm.
Uncorrected Proof in blue paper covers. Cover features a white paper slip taped to front that states: “TENTATIVE PUBLICATION DATE: 9 OCTOBER 1989 | TENTATIVE PRICE: $18.95 | WITH A FULL-COLOR FOLDOUT ILLUSTRATION”.
Stapled to the inside front cover are two pages of promotional material for Julian Barnes’s earlier novels, Flaubert’s Parrot and Staring at the Sun.
This copy was used by a reviewer, so contains underlining and written annotations throughout, including the line “It’s as if | you knew | I’d come | to say | gb” to the back cover. Inscribed by the author to the title page [the inscription dedication has been digitally removed].
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. The Lemon Table. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004. Pp. 240 + [6]. 19.2 x 13.3 cm.
Uncorrected Proof of the first U.S. edition. Paper cover in cream with provisional dust jacket art shown on the first preliminary page. This copy signed by the author.
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Arthur & George. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Pp. 385 [386] + [6]. 21.5 x 14.7 cm. ISBN: 030726310X. Book club edition.
The hardback book club edition of Julian Barnes’s Arthur & George looks very similar to the First American Edition, but the book club edition is considerably smaller, has no price indicated on the inside front flap, has a smooth/cut fore edge, and features a book club number on the back cover near the altered, white ISBN box (comparison images included). Other small differences are not noted here.
Notes on this edition: First American edition – Julian Barnes. Arthur & George. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Pp. 385. 25 cm. ISBN: 030726310x. $24.95.
Descriptive Bibliography:
Title Page: Arthur & George | Julian Barnes | [illustration] | [Knopf device] | ALFRED A. KNOPF | NEW YORK 2006
Copyright Page: THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK | PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF | Copyright © 2005 by Julian Barnes | All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, | a division of Random House, Inc., New York. | www.aaknopf.com | Originally published in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape, an imprint of | The Random House Group Limited, London. | Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of | Random House, Inc. | Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data | Barnes, Julian. | Arthur & George / Julian Barnes.—1st American ed. | p. cm. | title: Arthur and George. | ISBN 0-307-26310-X | 1. Doyle, Arthur Conan, Sir, 1859-1930—Fiction. 2. Horses—Crimes | against—Fiction. 3. Racially mixed people—Fiction. 4. Children of | clergy—Fiction. 5. Midlands (England)—Fiction. 6. Judicial error— | Fiction. I. Title: Arthur and George. II. Title. | PR6052.A6657A84 2006 | 823’.914—dc22 2005048771 | This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either | are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. | Manufactured in the United States of America | First American Edition
Collation: Pp. [only odd pages numbered] [i-viii, 1-4] 5-49 [50-54] 55-71 [72-74] 75-221 [222-226] 227-347 [348-352] 353-385 [386-392]. [i]: blank. [ii]: ‘BY THE SAME AUTHOR | Fiction | Metroland | Before She Met Me | Flaubert’s Parrot | Staring at the Sun | A History of the World in 10½ Chapters | Talking It Over | The Porcupine | Cross Channel | England, England | Love, Etc. | The Lemon Table | Non-Fiction | Letters From London 1990–1995 | Something to Declare | The Pedant in the Kitchen | Translation | In the Land of Pain by Alphonse Daudet’. [iii]: ‘Arthur & George’. [iv]: blank. [v]: title page. [vi]: copyright page. [vii]: ‘To P.K.’. [viii]: blank. [1]: ‘ONE | Beginnings | [ornament]’. [2]: blank. [3]-[50]: text. [51]: ‘TWO | Beginning with | an Ending | [ornament]’. [52]: blank. [53]-221: text. [222]: blank. [223]: ‘THREE | Ending with | a Beginning | [ornament]’. [224]: blank. [225]-347: text. [348]: blank. [349]: ‘FOUR | Endings | [ornament]’. [350]: blank. [351]-[386]: text. [387-388]: ‘Author’s Note’. [389-390]: blank. [391]: ‘A Note on the Type’. [392]: blank.
General description: Binding 24.1 x 16.5 cm. Brown-orange paper boards stamped in gold to spine. White endpapers. The text block has a deckled or “uncut” fore edge. Author photograph on back flap by Ellen Warner. Jacket design by Peter Mendelsund and Carol Devine Carson.
This copy signed on Feburary 11, 2006, during his U.S. promotional tour.
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Arthur & George. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005. Pp. 385 [388] + [2]. 23.5 x 15.7 cm.
Uncorrected Proof in blue wraps distributed selectively prior to publication. This proof varies from the Alfred A. Knopf “Advance Reader’s Edition” with decorative wrappers distributed to reviewers. Title page states “2006”, but listed here as printed in 2005, because the hardback edition this proof promotes was published in January 2006, and this edition preceded the hardback.
Cover in blue with black lettering. Front cover states: “Julian Barnes | His New Novel | Arthur & George | Shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction 2005 | ALFRED A. KNOPF [publisher’s device] PUBLISHERS, NEW YORK | · PUBLICATION DATE 16 January 2006 · PRICE $24.95 | ANNOUNCED FIRST PRINTING: 100,000 COPIES | [line rule] | THIS IS AN UNCORRECTED PROOF | It should not be quoted without comparison with the finished book | FOR MORE INFORMATION: 212-572-2104 | knopfpublicity@randomhouse.com”
Back cover lists cities for an author tour, but the locations subsequently changed prior to the finalized itinerary.
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Keeping an Eye Open: Essays on Art. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2015. Pp. 278. 21.6 x 17.2 cm.
Uncorrected proof in teal paper cover, as pictured. Front cover lists the publication date as “9 OCTOBER 2015”, a provisional price of $30.00.
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Staring at the Sun. Alfred A. Knopf, 1987. Pp. 195 + [5]. 21.2 x 13.7 cm.
Uncorrected Proof of Julian Barnes’s fourth novel Staring at the Sun. Published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1987, and bound in orange wraps with black lettering.
Two versions of this proof are shown. The first is as published, while the second has a slip of paper taped to the cover directly under the author’s name. The paper states, “Author of FLAUBERT’S PARROT.” This version also includes a handwritten tentative publication date of “April 2, 1987” and the tentative price of “$15.95.” Stapled inside the front cover are two promotional sheets. The first describes and promotes Staring at the Sun, and the second features review blurbs in promotion of Barnes’s widely acclaimed novel Flaubert’s Parrot.
Notes on this edition: Julian Barnes. Talking It Over. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. Pp. 275 + [3]. 21.2 x 13.6 cm.
In 1991, prior to publishing the hardback edition, Alfred A. Knopf issued a special, signed “proof” edition of Julian Barnes’s novel Talking It Over. The text is bound in white wraps with black text and is housed in a glossy, black, stiff paper slip case/container with the title and graphics printed in white.
Though booksellers routinely refer to this edtion as a “limited” or signed “uncorrected proof”, nowhere on the book or cover does it clearly state that the book is an uncorrected proof, nor is there a limitation statement. That said, this edition was clearly published prior to the Knopf hardback and used as a promotional item.
Not to be confused with the standard uncorrected proof printed in blue paper covers and sent to reviewers.